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project description

The karasssuite (aka known as Kurt Vonnegut Suite) is a multidisciplinary project that allows for a variety of artists from different backgrounds to collaborate on a complex media piece based on quotes from 'Cat's Craddle' by Kurt Vonnegut (1963). The project allows for different media outputs like performances, installations, radio pieces, etc.... The book becomes a starting point to build up a collection of resources, existing and newly made ones, where people can build creative variations on.

The project started in Spring 2007 and is now coming to the first end-phase. Another important part within this project was, to develop a database, that allows different inputs and various formats, and also provides a kind of a tool, a musical instrument, that one can play. This page here is providing the outcome of the collaboration and participation of various artists on the topic.

As described, the basic material is a selection of quotes from the original book. In 'Cat's Craddle' Vonnegut is citing from the so-called 'Book of Bokonon', which describes in the words of Bokonon a forbidden religious practice on the fictitious Island of San Lorenzo. In reality Vonnegut sarcastically describes a social system in which state and religion are carefully intertwined in a mutual denial but with obvious dependent benefits.

According to what a suite is - a composition from loosely jointed sets - the production method will be based on new forms of sharing and collaborating, in which pieces and smaller units are circulated amongst the participants. As such a constant changing of the material through modificiation, combination and reprocessing is achieved. In a final stage, and according to the chosen output format, the participants work at a montage of the material within the form of a suite: The Kurt Vonnegut Suite!

The suite itself is in its production method an advanced exploration of diverse and new ways of working together across disciplines, skills, time and space. Our working method contains conceptually the flexibity for accomodating different ways of dealing with shared creativity. In a way, the suite changes within the project time from a collection of relevant resources to a collection of networked and independent productions. The associated artists are contributing in many different ways and on different levels on a common ground. Most of the work will be carried out in a networked way, while the output will be there ready for use at any time for whatever form of presentation is chosen.

karass: If you find your life tangled up with somebody else's life for no very logical reasons that person may be a member of your karass.

karass: Man created the checkerboard; God created the karass.

Kurt Vonnegut 'Cat's Cradle'

suite: Multimovement work made up of a series of contrasting dance movements, generally all in the same key. Synonyms are partita and ordre.

suite femininum. periphäres Vokabular, fachspezifisch 'Zimmerflucht, Komposition aus nur lose gefügten Sätzen (< 17. Jhdt). Entlehnt aus frz. suite, eigentlich 'Folge', dieses aus gallorom. sequita, zu 1.sequi 'folgen'.
(aus: KLUGE 'Ethymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache' . De Gruyter Vlg, 1995 Berlin)

suite female, peripheral vocabulary, technical language. Set of rooms, composition from loosely jointed sets (used since 17th century). Borrowed from french language, actually series, this from the gallic-romanic sequitea which connects to 1.sequi 'to follow'.
(translated from: KLUGE 'Ethymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache' . De Gruyter Vlg, 1995 Berlin)

suite: 1 Folge von langsamen und schnellen Sätzen gleicher Tonart; Sy Partitia; Tanz~; 2 militär. oder fürstl. Gefolge, Begleitung; 3 (in Hotels) Zimmerflucht, [auch] zwei Einzelzimmer mit gemeinsamem Bad [frz. Folge, Reihenfolge, Gefolge; zu suivre 'folgen']

Karass books

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